Why is this? You can buy motorized anythings and most I can think of, either in industrial or consumer applications are for the most part almost silent. Is it due to the huge speed differences between tracking and slewing?

My friend has a new G-11 with the new motors installed. He also was very concerned about noise of the new high-torque motors. however, as we listened more carefully, we soon realised that the extra noise was emanating from the gearbox and not the motor itself. The higher torque of the new motors (the torque is supposedly higher than the Maxon motors) seems to be putting more strain on the gearbox and in my opinion the design of the gearbox is less than adequate. I previously changed the standard gearboxes on my MI-250 with the Maxon motors installed for their McLennan counterparts and the noise was reduced.

I completely disassembled the gearboxes on my new (in Jan) G11, cleaned them, and greased them with SuperLube before bolting them back together. The change in noise level when slewing the mount was astounding. It didn't even sound like the same mount, it was that much quieter. It is quite tolerable now, much quieter than my old CGEM (which wasn't the case before). Those gearboxes are ridiculously noisy without any modification.

Trust me, it was the gearboxes. After troubleshooting literally every component on this mount I have no doubt about the cause of the change in noise. I also did RA and DEC gearboxes at different times and was able to compare the slewing noise directly. Changing the worm mesh changes the pitch of the motor whine, but not the fast rattling noise of the gearboxes which on my mount ended up being noisier than the motors.

If you pack the gear boxes full of Lube, the noise is radically reduced.

Only for a while till the lube redistributes evenly. After that the noise will come back. Honestly I think the only long term solution is to reduce slew speed. Maybe a thin layer of rubber under the gearbox to dampen the vibrations, but I haven't tried that one.

I only applied a thin layer of Superlube to the wheels inside the gearboxes. They aren't and have never been packed with grease, and they have been used more than enough to evenly distribute since I overhauled them. They're still just as quiet. I have some short slewing videos showing the difference, I'll put them online when I get a chance (currently traveling)

I'm not sure that I get the reason for having high speed motors anyway. I have my MI250 slowed way down. I use it for imaging, but once in a while, I'll throw in an ep and view. With it slowed down, it takes, say, 15 seconds to get to an object instead of 10 seconds. I would think that keeping the slew speed at a slower rate would reduce wear.

Honestly, I only got one because they don't see the normal motors anymore and I fried my RA motor not being careful with my safety limits. I agree there really isn't a 'point'. The only thing I thought after putting it on is that it probably works 'better' than the original motor would with a heavier load? So if/when I get a C14 for this mount, maybe it won't strain as much.

I think, later, I'll replace the gear boxes as suggested above. But for right now, it seems like the gear boxes are holding up find.

Honestly, if I could've bought an old one, I would've! 225 bucks is alot of money!

Hi, I took each gearbox apart then cleaned and coated the teeth of each gear and axles with tripleguard, its blue grease. Its very thick and made for the gearbox of outboard motors. I use it on everything in my mount. But I live where it gets hot in south Texas and regular grease melts. This does not.

This makes my mount very very quiet. This grease stays on the gears even after alot of use. I open it up and theres still grease on the teeth. I would only recomend it on the gearbox and maybe the worm gears but not on the bearings if you live in cold climates. I mix triple guard and super lube for my bearings otherwise theres a little stiction when trying to balance my mount.

I have Maxxon motors and McLennen gear boxes on my Byers mount, and they are quieter than the Losmandy gear boxes. I run my mount at 500X and at 18 volts and it's not very noisy. The motors are a bit noisier at 18 volts than 12 volts. It does get noisier if the worm is a bit sloppy with the worm gear and the mount is out of balance in favor of the direction that the mount is slewing - it's actually quieter when it's driving out of balance against the counter weight and working harder. If you burn out motors going to the limit, use less pressure on the clutches - you don't really need that much tension on the clutch if the mount is balanced. I use as little pressure on the clutches as I can get away with.

I don't know, Chris. I just happen to have this in my bookmarks. I've never done it. Truth be known, my mount works so well as is, I've decided to leave it alone. Also, I'm not sure what I would have to do since I run my 250 with SiTech.